Rapist under 24-hour watch after release

A convicted rapist is out of jail for Thanksgiving after an appeals court ruled authorities did not follow the proper procedures to keep him locked up.

The Third District Court of Appeal ordered the release of Jackie Woods of Stockton, who was twice convicted of rape but has now completed his sentence. Woods committed at least one of the rapes in Stockton, according to court records.

Terri Delgadillo, acting undersecretary for California's Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, said the court's ruling was unprecedented, and that in January her agency would seek legislation to clarify the law on sexually violent predators and prevent similar releases.

Delgadillo also said that Woods is being watched 24 hours a day and that he will be staying in a California Department of Corrections halfway house rather that with his family, as he originally intended.

"We had a parole agent waiting for him at the jail," she said.

"He is not going to be staying with his family. We are going to make sure he is in a facility where he has 24-hour-a day supervision by a correctional officer," Delgadillo said.

San Joaquin County Assistant District Attorney Jim Willett said the appellate court found that the state Board of Prison Terms failed to use a provision of state law that could have held Woods for 45 days during hearings on whether he is a sexual predator.

But local officials and Board of Prison Terms Executive Officer Louie Dininni said that the 45-day hold has never been used that way. In fact, they say the hold is unnecessary because a judge had already ruled that a hearing should be held on Woods' status.

"There is no mechanism for the court or anyone else to notify us that a hold is needed. That is not the way the law was drafted," Dininni said.

Woods was scheduled to be released from prison and placed on parole Oct. 14. Before then, a judge held a so-called "urgency" hearing and decided that a court should hold a "probable cause" hearing to determine if a jury should decide whether Woods is a sexually violent predator. Such a jury ruling would allow authorities to hold Woods even though he had completed his sentence.

Woods' defense attorney then went to the appellate court and asked that the urgency-hearing ruling be vacated, arguing that there was no urgency. The defense argued that Woods' parole date is really three years from now -- when parole supervision would end -- rather than Oct. 14, when he was due to be released from prison.

Delgadillo and Dininni said that a number of defense attorneys have tried this tactic before, but until now courts had always ruled that the procedure was proper.

"The statute is written for when you release him on parole," Delgadillo said.

Woods was released late Wednesday night on his own recognizance and is due back in court Monday afternoon.

In 1993, Woods pleaded guilty to two separate counts of rape. Sentenced to 14 years in prison and released on parole in June 1998, a parole violation sent Woods, 30, back to Deuel Vocational Institution near Tracy. On his parole date, Oct. 14, Woods was transferred to San Joaquin County Jail. Officials expected him to stay there at least until his probable-cause hearing concluded sometime in January.

"It's about time they let him out," said Woods' mother, who declined to give her name.

But he may not be out for long. If a judge finds there is probable cause to find that Woods is a sexually violent predator, he could be placed back in custody until a trial can be held.

To be labeled a sexually violent predator, an inmate must be approaching the end of his or her prison term and have a history which includes two separate convictions for a specified sex offense committed by force or violence on two different victims.

Two independent psychiatric evaluations must agree that the inmate is likely to reoffend. Then a jury must decide whether to label the inmate a sexually violent predator, which would result in a two-year stay at a state mental hospital.

Woods pleaded guilty to the rape of an 18-year-old woman. During the rape, he threatened the woman with a knife, according to court documents.

During his rape of a 42-year-old woman, he threatened to kill the victim's children if she did not comply with his demands.

Officials said that normally, the Department of Corrections reviews inmates when they first enter the prison system and refers those who might be predators to the the Department of Mental Health. In Woods' case, proceedings are under way to classify him as a sexually violent predator.

The defense is scheduled on Jan. 18 to present evidence for why Woods should not be subjected to a sexually violent-predator trial.

On Wednesday, Judge Richard Guiliani told San Joaquin County Assistant District Attorney Jim Willett that the order from the Court of Appeal could not be ignored.

"I do believe a very strong argument could be made that Mr. Woods is a danger," Guiliani said. "But I view the direction of the Third District Court to release Mr. Woods on his own recognizance (as an order."

Guiliani also ordered that John Lauper, Woods' defense attorney, present his witnesses before Dec. 6.

"If that means (next Tuesday, then I want it next Tuesday," Guiliani said. "I'm talking about within 10 days."